For the Love of Food, TriBecca Allie Cafe Soars in Sardis

Sardis — Just five years ago, Sardis, a town of fewer than 2,000, wasn’t exactly known for its food scene. But today, its residents — and visitors from nearby towns, cities and states — flock to TriBecca Allie Café, the little restaurant that has put this tiny town on the map.

“Our passion for food came from missing food from back home, so this was born of necessity, not because we wanted to get into the food business. It was selfishly motivated.”

Rebecca van Oostendorp

Located on Main Street, this two-story spot boasts a wood-burning brick oven, award-winning pizzas and now a sister location next door, Frog’s Pearl Station, which serves up sweets and espresso.

At the heart of this thriving operation are husband-and-wife team, Damian “Dutch” and Rebecca van Oostendorp. Married 17 years this May, the pair fittingly planted the roots for TriBecca Allie as a labor of love not long after moving to Sardis from New York nearly two decades ago.

Rebecca, a country club manager, had met pro golf instructor, Dutch, just before leaving the state. And, after a visit to Mississippi, he soon followed. Though Rebecca had followed her family down South and accepted a director of catering position at Ole Miss, she left within six months, and the two instead focused on re-creating the recipes they missed most.

Dutch built a brick oven in their backyard, where they started making bread, and Rebecca (also a swim coach) sold loaves at the Mid-Town Farmers’ Market in Oxford for six years. Eventually, they started making sauceless cheese and veggie pizzas for tailgating.

“People were really excited about it, and they started to ask, ‘Why don’t you open up a place?’” Rebecca said. “We, unfortunately, listened!”

Because Dutch and Rebecca, along with Rebecca’s family, lived in Sardis, the tiny town felt like home, far from the New York hustle and bustle. Even more so, they wanted to help restore the town’s neglected Main Street.

“Main Streets in America are disappearing, and we have an interest in cultivating and bringing new business to small-town Mississippi,” Rebecca said. “And it is more cost-efficient — we wouldn’t have been able to buy and renovate a building in Memphis or Oxford or Southaven. It’s a great asset to be in Sardis. As we continue to grow, with opening our new place next door, we’re able to revitalize our Main Street. We wouldn’t be able to do the things we do here anywhere else.”

With financial help from a partner, they bought a building in Sardis and renovated it from the ground up predominantly by their own hands, which required three years of rebuilding and construction. Meanwhile, they researched recipes and engaged in endless experimentation to nail down the tastes and feel of the food from back home.

“We were relentless,” Rebecca said. “I was mean and evil if he’d have me taste something and it wasn’t right; or I’d make something, and he’d say it wasn’t right. We’d get mad at each other a lot!”

That obsessiveness has served them well when churning out handmade delicacies on a menu dominated by pizzas — red-sauce, white and specialty creations — made by Dutch, rounded out by appetizers, desserts and daily specials whipped up by Rebecca. With only a dishwasher and two or three servers on hand, the couple prides themselves on their personal touch.

“When you eat in our restaurant, every plate we send out has been through my hands, Dutch’s hands, or both,” Rebecca said. “We run our kitchen and dining room. If we were anywhere else, we’d have a lot more people involved, we’d have to be open a lot more hours, and we’d have to delegate a lot of responsibilities to someone who might not have the same passion or care that we do. If we make an error, we’re responsible for it, and we like it that way.”

TriBecca Allie Cafe quietly opened just after Thanksgiving in 2009, then officially opened the first week of January 2010. Five years later, the owners used the same timetable for Frog’s Pearl Station. The business has advertised very little, except to support small local papers. And, at first, the folks in Sardis weren’t accustomed to their Italian-style wood-fired pies. Early customers voiced concerns over the crust’s trademark char or would request an “everything” pizza, antithetical to the TriBecca esthetic of keeping it simple.

“The push-back really wasn’t as bad as we’d thought because we were at the farmers’ market in Oxford for so long,” Dutch says. “A lot of the buzz we had around creating the restaurant was through customers we already had, and they understood that the crust needs some color. But previously, locals might have known only Pizza Hut or Domino’s.”

Unlike the big-box pizza chains, TriBecca’s pizza could never be mass-produced. In summer, the proprietors grow their own basil and chives to sprinkle on piping-hot pies; a local farmer supplies arugula. The simple dough — made with only flour, water, salt and yeast — is made fresh and allowed to ferment at least one day for improved flavor.

“We love when someone walks in and has a passion for food; you can’t hide that excitement, and we feel the same way. We love good food and love to socialize and communicate with food. And we love having people here who have that same energy and passion.”

“In true Italian fashion, we try to get the freshest and the best, as close to where we are, as possible,” Dutch says.

The star product, which Rebecca describes as “thin-crust pizza with a pillowy outer rim and a crackle of a crunch for that textural feel, soft but crisp,” has won over everyone who walks through the door. After the initial “training process” with customers, they now rarely voice concerns, and the van Oostendorps have grown the menus, such as five toppings max on a pizza, to “stay true to the flavors on the pizza and provide a better crust experience,” Rebecca said. “People have been incredibly adaptive, and they continue to come back. They’re excited about it.”

Adjustments have been made on both sides of the table. The couple always augmented their pizza menu with daily lunch specials, but now they’re as likely to offer Southern comfort food (think chicken and spaghetti) as Italian classics like penne alla vodka. And, because locals had never tried some of Rebecca’s dishes, minor menu adjustments helped: When Rebecca offered Hungarian goulash, no one bought it — but with different wording, the “beef tips served over egg noodles” became a huge seller.

“We had a different style of cooking than most folks; we might be the only restaurant in this area that doesn’t have a fryer,” Rebecca said. “So we learned to adjust to each other. And within nine months to a year, we saw people branch out and try new things, which was really fun to see happen.”

Adjustments are perpetually under way as they’ve become more skilled at making dough, working the oven and honing their recipes. Dutch might tinker with new flour blends. The pair will eat pizza after a shift and offer critiques, then fiddle a little more — all in hopes of becoming better at their craft. Dutch believes it’s an old habit from being involved in competitive sports.

“You commit yourself to constant improvement, and you’re critical of yourself in order to make that happen,” he said. “You have to be willing to change. We’re constantly trying to make each better than the last, but if we can at least make it as good each time, I think we’re doing a darn good job.”

Rebecca laughs now when she remembers her humble dreams for the business — opening a little cafe, living quietly in Sardis, continuing to sell bread at the farmers’ market. Instead, this one- time underdog has scored national recognition and a slew of passionate fans. The Magnolia Rosa Insalata, topped with red onion, whole-milk mozzarella, Mississippi pecans, mixed greens and pine nuts tossed in homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and freshly grated Pecorino Romano, won second place in PMQ Pizza Magazine’s American Pizza Championship in September 2010, a competition entered after a national competitor visited the restaurant, worked the pizza oven and said, “I’m putting your name in this competition, ‘cause this pizza is good!”

The same pizza was highlighted on a 2014 Thrillist.com article that named the best pizza in every state. A similar list by Zagat picked TriBecca’s Patate — with olive oil, thinly sliced potato, whole-milk mozzarella, cheddar, bacon, chives and sour cream — as the best pie in Mississippi. And Dutch placed first in PMQ’s SEC Pizza Championship, held at the Oxford Craft Beer Festival in April 2014, with a white pizza topped with Rebecca’s homemade Italian sausage, wild mushrooms, crispy kale, citron and pepper vinegar — winning him a trip to Italy for an international competition this May.

“We never thought we’d get national recognition, and we never knew anyone would write about us or travel from farther than Oxford,” Rebecca said. “We never thought it would grow as big as it has, and it couldn’t have done this anywhere else.”

With success comes a lot of hard work. The pair routinely clocks 80-hour weeks, making dough, prepping and keeping up with operations. Any “vacations” are spent on maintenance or building improvements. They’d love to extend their hours or recruit an impassioned budding pizza maker to work the oven, but their biggest issue now is running out of dough on particularly busy shifts. Dutch churns out up to 240 pizzas per week from the single brick oven. Luckily, the pair makes a perfect team, maintaining a balance of work duties and mutual support.

“We’re critical of each other whether or not we like it, but we stick with the stuff we do well—and we’re doing the same thing every day,” Dutch explains. “We don’t try to mix in each other’s jobs. I couldn’t go in tomorrow and make chicken salad the way she does.”

“Hard work is the key,” Rebecca added. “We’ve been relentless in maintaining our standards and putting in the work to keep our restaurant at the level we want.”

That dedication is a large component of what makes customers come back, but they also feel like they’re a genuine part of the business that has seen so much success and yet stays true to its roots of crafting food with care.

“We think of them more as guests than customers, but a lot of them are family,” says Dutch, recalling a local attorney who helps slammed servers on the fly by wiping a table clean, setting silverware or filling tea. “I can’t imagine that happens in any other restaurant — where people patronize the restaurant not only because of the food, but for the camaraderie.”

“We’re spoiled rotten, because the people who come in are the best customers of any restaurant I’ve ever been in, in terms of being understanding, excited and passionate,” Rebecca said. “I think it’s because we’ve had such great word of mouth.”

And, though their space and staff are limited, the couple continues to expand in their well-planned, careful way. Another self-proclaimed “selfishly motivated” move came to fruition when the pair opened Frog’s Pearl Station. In the front room of a charming Victorian-style home, formerly a local attorney’s office, local artisans sell their wares — a delightful mishmash of specialty items including dehydrated dog treats, crocheted baby hats, home decorations, embroidered dog collars, baby dresses and local honey and soap. In adjoining rooms, guests enjoy appetizers, gelato, espresso, baked goods, and ice cream from a maker in Walls, Mississippi.

With two dedicated operators at the helm, pizza that’s been praised nationwide and an ever-growing following, TriBecca Allie continues to grow on its already cemented legacy in the small town of Sardis. But it all comes back to the couple’s main drive — a love of food prepared with love.

STORY Tracy Morin
PHOTOGRAPHY Lauren Wood